---
title: Customizing errors
description: "Guide to customizing validation error messages and error handling patterns"
---

import { Tabs, Tab } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/tabs';

{/* ## `$ZodError` */}

In Zod, validation errors are surfaced as instances of the `z.core.$ZodError` class.

> The `ZodError` class in the `zod` package is a subclass that implements some additional convenience methods.

Instances of `$ZodError` contain an `.issues` array. Each issue contains a human-readable `message` and additional structured metadata about the issue.


<Tabs groupId="lib" items={["Zod", "Zod Mini"]}>
<Tab value="Zod">
```ts
import * as z from "zod";

const result = z.string().safeParse(12); // { success: false, error: ZodError }
result.error.issues;
// [
//   {
//     expected: 'string',
//     code: 'invalid_type',
//     path: [],
//     message: 'Invalid input: expected string, received number'
//   }
// ]
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="Zod Mini">
```ts
import * as z from "zod/mini";

const result = z.string().safeParse(12); // { success: false, error: z.core.$ZodError }
result.error.issues;
// [
//   {
//     expected: 'string',
//     code: 'invalid_type',
//     path: [],
//     message: 'Invalid input'
//   }
// ]
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

{/* ## Customization */}

Every issue contains a `message` property with a human-readable error message. Error messages can be customized in a number of ways.


## The `error` param

Virtually every Zod API accepts an optional error message.

```ts
z.string("Not a string!");
```

This custom error will show up as the `message` property of any validation issues that originate from this schema.

```ts
z.string("Not a string!").parse(12);
// ❌ throws ZodError {
//   issues: [
//     {
//       expected: 'string',
//       code: 'invalid_type',
//       path: [],
//       message: 'Not a string!'   <-- 👀 custom error message
//     }
//   ]
// }
```

All `z` functions and schema methods accept custom errors.

<Tabs groupId="lib" items={["Zod", "Zod Mini"]}>
<Tab value="Zod">
```ts
z.string("Bad!");
z.string().min(5, "Too short!");
z.uuid("Bad UUID!");
z.iso.date("Bad date!");
z.array(z.string(), "Not an array!");
z.array(z.string()).min(5, "Too few items!");
z.set(z.string(), "Bad set!");
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="Zod Mini">
```ts
z.string("Bad!");
z.string().check(z.minLength(5, "Too short!"));
z.uuid("Bad UUID!");
z.iso.date("Bad date!");
z.array(z.string(), "Bad array!");
z.array(z.string()).check(z.minLength(5, "Too few items!"));
z.set(z.string(), "Bad set!");
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>

If you prefer, you can pass a params object with an `error` parameter instead.

<Tabs groupId="lib" items={["Zod", "Zod Mini"]}>
<Tab value="Zod">
```ts
z.string({ error: "Bad!" });
z.string().min(5, { error: "Too short!" });
z.uuid({ error: "Bad UUID!" });
z.iso.date({ error: "Bad date!" });
z.array(z.string(), { error: "Bad array!" });
z.array(z.string()).min(5, { error: "Too few items!" });
z.set(z.string(), { error: "Bad set!" });
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="Zod Mini">
```ts
z.string({ error: "Bad!" });
z.string().check(z.minLength(5, { error: "Too short!" }));
z.uuid({ error: "Bad UUID!" });
z.iso.date({ error: "Bad date!" });
z.array(z.string(), { error: "Bad array!" });
z.array(z.string()).check(z.minLength(5, { error: "Too few items!" }));
z.set(z.string(), { error: "Bad set!" });
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>


The `error` param optionally accepts a function. An error customization function is known as an **error map** in Zod terminology. The error map will run at parse time if a validation error occurs.

```ts
z.string({ error: ()=>`[${Date.now()}]: Validation failure.` });
```

<Callout>
**Note** — In Zod v3, there were separate params for `message` (a string) and `errorMap` (a function). These have been unified in Zod 4 as `error`.
</Callout>

The error map receives a context object you can use to customize the error message based on the validation issue.

```ts
z.string({
  error: (iss) => iss.input === undefined ? "Field is required." : "Invalid input."
});
```

For advanced cases, the `iss` object provides additional information you can use to customize the error.

```ts
z.string({
  error: (iss) => {
    iss.code; // the issue code
    iss.input; // the input data
    iss.inst; // the schema/check that originated this issue
    iss.path; // the path of the error
  },
});
```

Depending on the API you are using, there may be additional properties available. Use TypeScript's autocomplete to explore the available properties.

```ts
z.string().min(5, {
  error: (iss) => {
    // ...the same as above
    iss.minimum; // the minimum value
    iss.inclusive; // whether the minimum is inclusive
    return `Password must have ${iss.minimum} characters or more`;
  },
});
```

Return `undefined` to avoid customizing the error message and fall back to the default message. (More specifically, Zod will yield control to the next error map in the [precedence chain](#error-precedence).) This is useful for selectively customizing certain error messages but not others.

```ts
z.int64({
  error: (issue) => {
    // override too_big error message
    if (issue.code === "too_big") {
      return { message: `Value must be <${issue.maximum}` };
    }

    //  defer to default
    return undefined;
  },
});
```

## Per-parse error customization

To customize errors on a *per-parse* basis, pass an error map into the parse method:

```ts
const schema = z.string();

schema.parse(12, {
  error: iss => "per-parse custom error"
});
```

This has *lower precedence* than any schema-level custom messages.

```ts
const schema = z.string({ error: "highest priority" });
const result = schema.safeParse(12, {
  error: (iss) => "lower priority",
});

result.error.issues;
// [{ message: "highest priority", ... }]
```

The `iss` object is a [discriminated union](https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/2/narrowing.html#discriminated-unions) of all possible issue types. Use the `code` property to discriminate between them.

> For a breakdown of all Zod issue codes, see the [`zod/v4/core`](/packages/core#issue-types) documentation.

```ts
const result = schema.safeParse(12, {
  error: (iss) => {
    if (iss.code === "invalid_type") {
      return `invalid type, expected ${iss.expected}`;
    }
    if (iss.code === "too_small") {
      return `minimum is ${iss.minimum}`;
    }
    // ...
  }
});
```

### Include input in issues

By default, Zod does not include input data in issues. This is to prevent unintentional logging of potentially sensitive input data. To include the input data in each issue, use the `reportInput` flag:

```ts
z.string().parse(12, {
  reportInput: true
})

// ZodError: [
//   {
//     "expected": "string",
//     "code": "invalid_type",
//     "input": 12, // 👀
//     "path": [],
//     "message": "Invalid input: expected string, received number"
//   }
// ]
```

## Global error customization

To specify a global error map, use `z.config()` to set Zod's `customError` configuration setting:

```ts
z.config({
  customError: (iss) => {
    return "globally modified error";
  },
});
```

Global error messages have *lower precedence* than schema-level or per-parse error messages.

The `iss` object is a [discriminated union](https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/2/narrowing.html#discriminated-unions) of all possible issue types. Use the `code` property to discriminate between them.

> For a breakdown of all Zod issue codes, see the [`zod/v4/core`](/packages/core#issue-types) documentation.

```ts
z.config({
  customError: (iss) => {
    if (iss.code === "invalid_type") {
      return `invalid type, expected ${iss.expected}`;
    }
    if (iss.code === "too_small") {
      return `minimum is ${iss.minimum}`;
    }
    // ...
  },
});
```

## Internationalization

To support internationalization of error message, Zod provides several built-in **locales**. These are exported from the `zod/v4/core` package.

> **Note** — The regular `zod` library automatically loads the `en` locale automatically. Zod Mini does not load any locale by default; instead all error messages default to `Invalid input`.

<Tabs groupId="lib" items={["Zod", "Zod Mini"]}>
<Tab value="Zod">
```ts
import * as z from "zod";
import { en } from "zod/locales"

z.config(en());
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="Zod Mini">
```ts
import * as z from "zod/mini"
import { en } from "zod/locales";

z.config(en());
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>

To lazily load a locale, consider dynamic imports:

```ts
import * as z from "zod";

async function loadLocale(locale: string) {
  const { default: locale } = await import(`zod/v4/locales/${locale}.js`);
  z.config(locale());
};

await loadLocale("fr");
```

For convenience, all locales are exported as `z.locales` from `"zod"`. In some bundlers, this may not be tree-shakable.

<Tabs groupId="lib" items={["Zod", "Zod Mini"]}>
<Tab value="Zod">
```ts
import * as z from "zod";

z.config(z.locales.en());
```
</Tab>
<Tab value="Zod Mini">
```ts
import * as z from "zod/mini"

z.config(z.locales.en());
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>

### Locales

The following locales are available:

- `ar` — Arabic
- `az` — Azerbaijani
- `be` — Belarusian
- `bg` — Bulgarian
- `ca` — Catalan
- `cs` — Czech
- `da` — Danish
- `de` — German
- `en` — English
- `eo` — Esperanto
- `es` — Spanish
- `fa` — Farsi
- `fi` — Finnish
- `fr` — French
- `frCA` — Canadian French
- `he` — Hebrew
- `hu` — Hungarian
- `id` — Indonesian
- `is` — Icelandic
- `it` — Italian
- `ja` — Japanese
- `ka` — Georgian
- `km` — Khmer
- `ko` — Korean
- `lt` — Lithuanian
- `mk` — Macedonian
- `ms` — Malay
- `nl` — Dutch
- `no` — Norwegian
- `ota` — Türkî
- `ps` — Pashto
- `pl` — Polish
- `pt` — Portuguese
- `ru` — Russian
- `sl` — Slovenian
- `sv` — Swedish
- `ta` — Tamil
- `th` — Thai
- `tr` — Türkçe
- `uk` — Ukrainian
- `ur` — Urdu
- `vi` — Tiếng Việt
- `zhCN` — Simplified Chinese
- `zhTW` — Traditional Chinese
- `yo` — Yorùbá


## Error precedence

Below is a quick reference for determining error precedence: if multiple error customizations have been defined, which one takes priority? From *highest to lowest* priority:

1. **Schema-level error** — Any error message "hard coded" into a schema definition.

  ```ts
  z.string("Not a string!");
  ```

2. **Per-parse error** — A custom error map passed into the `.parse()` method.

  ```ts
  z.string().parse(12, {
    error: (iss) => "My custom error"
  });
  ```

3. **Global error map** — A custom error map passed into `z.config()`.

  ```ts
  z.config({
    customError: (iss) => "My custom error"
  });
  ```

4. **Locale error map** — A custom error map passed into `z.config()`.

  ```ts
  z.config(z.locales.en());
